Last week we talked about living in constant fear of losing your customers. About having a relationship with your customers that is so flimsy that one price cut will take them away from you. Now while this is true, customers can be fickle, especially in the first months of doing business, but in the end […]
Put A Dent In The World
How often do you hear this, “Look, you guys are all the same, you all have the same quality and delivery, there is no difference between you and the other guy, so I’m just going on price. You’re all building the same product anyway so what does it matter?” Or this, “I can get my […]
Working Together: The Best Solution
Getting The North American PCB Industry Off Death Row Part 5 “It’s not fair, they are all working together, they all help each other out, you don’t know who owns what, and their government really owns them and gives them all kinds of funding to take over the entire Global PCB market!” These are all […]
Hiring The Real Workers (Getting The North American PCB Industry Off Death Row Part 4)
When John F Kennedy visited the Space Center in Houston in 1962, he came upon a janitor, and asked him what he was doing. The janitor looked at the young president and smiled and said, “I am helping put an American on the moon.” When a food wagon employee was asked how she liked her […]
Finding, Hiring and Keeping Good People
Getting The North American PCB Industry Off Death Row Part 3 Let me tell you a story, my story. In the early 70’s I was driving a forklift in a huge textile factory in Lewiston, Maine for the minimum wage of $1.60 an hour. I worked the second shift, so I might have gotten a […]
No Strategy = No Future.
Getting the North American PCB industry off death row: part two My column last week Let’s Get off Death Row, woke a few people up. I heard from a number of people, and for the most part the response was positive. People let me know that my words made them feel better. That it made […]
Let’s Get Off PCB Death Row
For at least twenty years now the American PCB industry has been sounding its’ death knell. There has been an overriding feeling that it is over and now it is only a matter of time. All I hear is the mournful wailing of the injustices that we have been dealt. It makes me feel that […]
I’m Confused By ITAR!
Look, let me say this from the beginning, I’m a big fan of ITAR. I believe that yes, we should have some kind of protection for defense aerospace products being built by American companies by American citizens. I think it is good for the PCB and PCBA industry for sure. I don’t like the idea […]
Marketing Is Not For Sissies. Are You Ready To Commit?
Are you serious about your marketing? Are you ready to be all in? Are you prepared to go the distance? These are all questions you should ask yourself before you engage in a marketing program. You should realize that marketing is not an overnight endeavor, but rather a commitment to time, energy, passion and yes, […]
People Hate Being Sold. So Don’t Sell Them
People hate being sold. Of course, people want things. If they are in the business of buying and using PCBs for example, they need to buy them. But they want to feel they are in control. They want to “decide” on their own, (or so they think) without someone chattering in their ear about how […]